


A Pot Full of Spicy Elixir

by hiya_zelda (hiya_girlie)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Banter, F/M, Fluff, Humor, It goes about as well as you think, Pining, Post Game, Pre-Relationship, Teasing, link tries to teach zelda how to make elixirs, what? i can write a zelink other than tp? who knew?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:40:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24794785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiya_girlie/pseuds/hiya_zelda
Summary: Zelda is learning how to make elixirs for the first time, but unfortunately for her she is not so fond of eating the bugs Link insists on putting in.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 79





	A Pot Full of Spicy Elixir

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dragonaddict04](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragonaddict04/gifts).



> Just some wholesome BoTW Zelink for one of my favorite people! I hope you enjoy it (๑>◡<๑) and happy elixir making!

Zelda leaned over the small cooking pot in front of Link’s house, giving the pot’s contents a concerned expression. The bright red liquid bubbled furiously, emitting a foul odor that smelled of muddy swamps and mountain sides and made her nose wrinkle in disgust. She tightened her grip on the ladle she was using to stir, focusing on moving the liquid around instead of scrutinizing its contents. She didn’t need another reminder that there were dead dragonflies floating on top of the surface. The horrid sizzling noise they made while they cooked and the plentiful pinkish steam that rose from their boiled bodies was reminder enough. Oh, goodness, she was going to be sick. She didn’t want to know what else Link had added.

Link sat on the ground next to her, rifling through his pack for empty bottles. She shot him the occasional glance and watched with a mixture of curiosity and bewilderment as the pile of miscellaneous objects around him grew, everything from arrow shafts to rock ores to dragon scales. She bit her lip to keep from reprimanding him for his sloppiness; he had a right to organize his belongings however he liked. But she couldn’t help wondering how many things he had misplaced simply because he never cleaned out his bag. Perhaps she would offer her assistance in reorganizing sometime when she wasn’t keeping a watchful eye on a pot of boiling elixir.

“And this… elixir,” she said, turning to look at him, noticing with a raised eyebrow that he had found not one but five empty bottles and was stacking them in front of him in a pyramid. How could they have been crammed in there and not received a single scratch? “You drink it to protect your body from the cold?”

His head bobbed and he began to put things back into his bag. “I’m not sure the exact science behind it,” he said with a shrug, “but something about the warm darners, when mixed with monster parts, makes them useful against the cold. Summerwing butterflies have the same effect.”

She paled. “Monster parts?” 

“Teeth, claws, guts and stuff.” Her stomach lurched, and he flashed her a reassuring grin. “You learn a lot of weird stuff when you travel.”

He scooted over until he was right beside her, their arms and legs knocking against each other. She fought to hide her embarrassment at his sudden intrusion of her personal space. She still wasn’t completely used to his casualness, even though they had been living together at his house since defeating the Calamity. Either he had forgotten the rules of propriety or was blatantly ignoring them. Not that she minded much, she just wished he would warn her when he suddenly moved closer to her than was strictly proper so she could mentally prepare herself.

He studied the elixir and gave her an appreciative nod, causing her to blush. “You’re doing a good job stirring,” he said. “You’re much better at this than I was. The first few times I tried making elixirs, I got distracted and let them burn.”

She smiled. She had noticed how quickly his mind would shift focus, leaping from one point of interest to the next, like a bird that couldn’t decide which tree to perch on. It was irritating at times, because whenever they would go exploring he would wander off without a word and leave her slightly panicky as she called for him. It was admittedly also quite adorable, especially when he would tell her a story only to get sidetracked and spend half an hour on a side tangent before realizing what he had done.

As a joke, Zelda pointed off in the distance. “Oh!” She exclaimed, feigning excitement. “What’s that?”

Link’s eyes quickly followed her gesture, his expression narrowing into a look of intense concentration as he tried to discern what had caught her attention. She stifled a giggle behind her hand and nudged his shoulder playfully. “It would seem you’re still quite easily distracted,” she teased. 

He took her tease lightly, his grin widening. “Hey, I’m only human,” he replied easily. His lighthearted tone was replaced by panic a moment later. “Whoa, Zelda, the elixir!”

Her focus snapped back to the pot. She noticed the liquid was a slightly darker shade now and there were hints of char in the smell. “Oh no,” she said, her face falling. “Is it ruined?” They’d been working on the elixir for the past half hour. How painfully ironic that she would ruin it simply because she’d wanted to tease Link about getting distracted. They would have to restart, and he would never let her live it down.

He held his hand out for the ladle and she passed it to him. He gave the elixir a good stir, some of the liquid splashing over the side, then raised the ladle to his mouth and took a sip. She gagged.

“Tastes fine to me,” he said, setting the ladle down. “A little burnt, but it should be alright.” 

She let out a relieved sigh, then her expression shifted into a look of pure horror. “Link, that’s absolutely disgusting!” She said. 

He wiped a trickle of the liquid from his chin indignantly. “As I recall, you were the one who demanded that I eat a live frog a hundred years ago,” he said pointedly. “So why are you so grossed out by dragonfly stew?”

Zelda flushed, remembering said event. All she had wanted was to run a few tests on him! And besides, he had eaten plenty of other questionable things before, why would a frog be any different? “I have it on good authority that frogs are a delicacy,” she huffed, folding her arms. “They’re very popular among the nobility. But dragonflies and monster parts are something else entirely! It’s like… you’re acting like a frog!”

He stirred the elixir, his grin only widening as he took another sip. Was he purposefully drinking it to gross her out? He even seemed to be enjoying it! She took back every romantic thought she’d ever had about him. She didn’t think she could ever kiss him after watching him drink an elixir made with bugs and monster parts! “I don’t think frogs are capable of making elixirs,” he said, pretending to question the statement. 

“I meant that you are acting like a frog for eating bugs!”

His grin turned devilish. “Does that make you a snake then, for eating frogs?”

Her cheeks burned. “I don’t eat frogs!” She said, her voice rising an octave. 

“But you said that frogs are a delicacy among nobility, and you’re a princess, so—“

Zelda cut him off with a glare she hoped was suitably chastening. “You are insufferable!” She groaned. “And if anyone here eats frogs, it’s certainly you! After all you eat dragonflies, butterflies, beetles, and goddess knows what else!”

“Wait,” Link said, his eyebrows furrowing seriously, “how can I eat frogs if I am a frog?” His eyes widened, and he had the nerve to look offended as he asked, “Are you saying that I’m a cannibal?” 

She threw her hands up in exasperation. “Now you’re just being ridiculous!”

He shrugged. “Well, frog or not, since you’ll be drinking this elixir too, I guess that makes you a frog too.”

She froze, too startled to attempt a witty comeback. “What?” She squeaked. “Drink it?”

He nodded like it was obvious. “Yeah, you said you wanted to explore Lanayru again, right? It’s freezing there, and this elixir will keep you from getting frostbite.”

She shook her head. “I’m not drinking that,” she said flatly. She was the princess here, not him, so if she said she wasn’t drinking the elixir, she wasn’t going to, screw what he thought. 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You can’t exactly say no,” he said. “This is the only guaranteed method of staying warm.”

He was right and he knew it, and she couldn’t play her “I’m the princess so do what I say” card either. She pouted for a moment, then had an epiphany. “I’ll wear your armor,” she replied triumphantly. “You mentioned that you have a set of snowquill armor from Rito Village, so I’ll wear that.”

“Sorry, no can do. I have to wear the armor.”

“Link, you and I are practically the same size, that isn’t an issue—“

“The armor has a special property that would benefit me as your protector,” he insisted. “Wearing the full set makes me immune to freezing from enemy attacks.”

“Then would I not be better suited to the armor?” Zelda argued, certain that her argument was flawless. “You are more than capable of dodging enemy attacks while I am not.”

Link let out a frustrated grunt at having his own logic used against him. “Okay, fine, we’ll push back our trip to Lanayru by a month so I can spend a few weeks earning enough rupees to buy you your own set of armor, then I can spend another few weeks collecting the materials to give to the Great Fairies so it can protect you from enemy attacks. Happy?”

She scowled. “Fine, I’ll drink the elixir, and you can keep the armor.”

He nodded. “Good choice.”

Zelda sat back, unable to mask her dislike of the whole situation. She gagged trying to imagine what the elixir tasted like. Link continued stirring the pot, accepting her silent refusal to help more. She needed to fume for a minute, then she’d continue helping him. 

She was frustrated with herself, but as much as she wished she had won the argument, she realized that Link was just worried about her, his overprotectiveness manifesting itself as stubbornness. He had been like that before the Calamity, too, purposefully ignoring her orders to leave her alone and staying by her side no matter how much verbal abuse she threw his way. His dedication had saved her life on more occasions than one, and their trip to Lanayru would be another example where his diligence kept her out of harm’s way. She sighed, mentally preparing an apology.

Then, for the second time in an hour she regretted her feelings for him. Her eyes widened as he reached into his pack and came out with a handful of slimy, pulsating violet guts. They looked like hearts and lungs. She blanched white as a sheet when he tossed them into the pot, stirring them around in the red liquid. They sizzled and squelched in the heat, releasing loud pops that made her jump.

“Were those moblin organs?” She screeched. Her apology went straight out the window.

“They’re for potency,” he said with a devious smirk. He looked extremely satisfied with himself, and she wanted to smack the grin right off his face. How could he be so attractive and loyal one moment, and then completely irritating and childish the next?

“I’m going to kill you!”

**Author's Note:**

> This was pretty fun to write, I might try more BoTW Zelink shenanigans in the future.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
